A Christmas best Forgotten rewrite
by misao1000
Summary: After going shopping with Akane, and promising to return to help decorate for christmas, Ranma never shows up. Several hours later, a call comes from Ryoga, that delivers some very bad news. Summary may suck, but maybe the story is good.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Ranma 1/2 and all associated characters, are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. This is meerly a work of fiction, used for entertainment purposes, and in no form what so ever is it to be used for profit.

**(A/N: **The story starts close to the place it did in the episode "A Christmas without Ranma". However, instead of Akane going out in search of Ranma, another person finds him, and calls the Tendo's with bad news.)

**Chapter One**

As a girl with bluish black hair, made her way along at a leisurely pace, her companion who was walking along the top of the fence beside her, grumbled to himself about how stupid the task they were on was.

After several minutes of hearing the constant grumbling, the blue haired girl stopped walking, and turned to face her companion. "Ranma, if you're that upset about going shopping with me, then why don't you just leave?" Ranma didn't say anything, and continued walking like he hadn't heard her. Shaking her head, the blue haired girl gave a sigh, and began to follow the boy that was her fiance in name only.

Several minutes later the two reached their destination, and made their way into the mall. Soon as she was inside, the blue haired girl began to hurry from shop to shop, looking into the various windows at the Christmas decorations, as well as the different items displayed there. Unbeknownst to the girl, Ranma had stopped inside the entrance way and was watching her as she happily ran from shop window to shop window, with a smile upon his face. 'Why can't she always be this happy?' he wondered.

Hearing his name called by the girl, Ranma looked towards her direction and saw that she was standing near a shop that was known to sell stuffed animals. Making his way towards the girl, Ranma changed his expression from the smile he had while watching her, to a slight scowl of disinterest. Soon as Ranma had reached her side, the girl pointed at a small black pig, and asked. "Isn't it just the cutest thing, you have ever seen Ranma?"

Ranma gave a small snort of laughter, as he had a sudden thought. "I don't know Akane. If you ask me, it looks a bit like Ryoga."

Akane tilted her head towards him, in a confused sort of way. "Ranma, how exactly does a stuffed pig look like Ryoga?"

"Nevermind, Akane." Akane sent him another brief look of confusion, and started to ask him to explain his reasoning. However before she could say anything, something in the shop across from her caught her eye, and she ran off towards it leaving Ranma behind. Sending a quick look towards Akane, and seeing that she was occupied with whatever it was she was looking at, Ranma made his way into the shop he was at, and going over to the window display picked up the stuffed pig. He then headed towards the cashiers counter.

"Hello sir." said the clerk as Ranma approached.

Ranma gave her a slight greeting, and placed the pig onto the counter."Is there anyway that you can hold on to this for me, and I pick it up later?" asked Ranma.

"Of course sir." said the clerk, picking up the pig, and placing it behind the counter. "Also sir, if you wish we can gift wrap it for you free of charge." Ranma thought about this for a few moments, then nodded.

Making his way out of the shop a few moments later, Ranma went off in search of Akane and soon found her standing before another shop window, looking over the various clothes displayed there. Coming to stand next to her, Ranma asked Akane if she was planning on buying anything or just window shopping.

"I am going to buy a few things. It's just I haven't found anything I like yet, that will be liked by Kasumi and the others."

"If you want to make Nabiki happy, just give her a brief case full of money." said Ranma, with a small laugh.

"While that would make Nabiki happy, there's no way I can give her something like that." said Akane.

"It was a joke, Akane." said Ranma, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I know Ranma." said Akane, sending him a smile. "But it's still something that Nabiki would like to have. Now as to who could give it to her, I can only think of one person." There was a brief pause as the two teens pondered this for a few moments, picturing Nabiki receiving a briefcase full of money from Kuno. Shaking her head to clear that thought, Akane spoke again. "Anyway, since you asked me if I was going to buy anything, how about if I ask the same of you Ranma?"

"I only came along because your dad and pops demanded that I come with you. It's not like I have any real reason to be here." Akane just nodded at his reply and went back to looking in the shop window she was next too, not noticing that Ranma had turned his attention away from her and was looking towards the shop next to them, with a small hint of longing.  
-

Several minutes later, Akane and Ranma made their way out of the mall, with Akane carrying three small bags. Coming to a stop outside, Ranma got Akane's attention by calling her name. Stopping a few steps away from him, Akane turned to face him and asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing's wrong Akane. It's just that I was wondering, if you could go on home alone."

"I don't mind going home alone, Ranma. But may I ask why you want me to go alone?"

"I need to take care of a few things, before I come home." said Ranma.

"I suppose that will be ok. Just don't forget, that you promised to help us decorate the house."

"I won't forget, Akane." With that said, Ranma turned away from her and leapt up onto the nearby roof. A few leaps later he was out of sight.

Turning back to face the way she needed to go, in order to head home Akane mumbled the word baka under her breath, while smiling softly.  
-

Having arrived back at the dojo, Akane made her way inside. Stopping in the entranceway she slipped off her shoes and called out. "Tadiama."

"Okaeri Akane." called a female voice.

Turning to face the person who greeted her, Akane found her eldest sister standing there with a warm smile upon her face. "Did you find everything you went after, Akane?"

"Not exactly, Kasumi." said Akane, coming to stand before her sister. "However, I did manage to find gifts for everyone. I just hope that they are liked."

"I'm sure that everyone will like what you got for them, Akane." said Kasumi. She started to ask Ranma, if he bought anything but she didn't see him. "Akane, where is Ranma?"

"Oh, he said he had something's to take care of before coming home." said Akane. "I did remind him about the decorating, and he said he wouldn't forget."

"Then I am sure that there is nothing to worry about." said Kasumi.

Akane wondered what it was that had Kasumi apparently worried, but before she could ask, Kasumi had turned away from her and headed back towards the sitting room. Taking off after her sister, so she could ask her why she was worried, Akane made her way into the room a few moments after Kasumi. However, before Akane could get Kasumi's attention, she was pounced upon by her other sister, who held out her hand in a give me sort of way.

Sighing at her sisters antics, Akane told her that she was going to have to wait until tomorrow, just like everyone else. This caused the girl to pout, but it soon vanished as she looked past Akane and saw that she was alone. "So Akane, where is your ever cute fiance? Did he make you mad again, and you send him flying with your mallet?"

"No Nabiki, I didn't send Ranma flying this time." said Akane. "He told me, he had something's he needed to do, before coming home. And he did say he would be here in time, to help us with the decorating."

Forgetting that she wanted to talk to Kasumi, Akane headed for the stairs. As she passed Nabiki, she heard her say. "Whatever you say Akane. But only time will tell, wither Ranma keeps his promise or not."  
-

Several hours later, Akane was found by her father sitting at the table seething in a silent rage. Reason for this, was that Ranma had yet to show up.

As Soun made his way to his place at the head of the table and sat down, he spoke in a cautious voice. "I don't blame you for being angry Akane, but I am sure Ranma has a very good reason for being late."

Akane ignored what her father said, and continued to let her anger rise. As Kasumi came into the room from the kitchen, intending to let everyone know that dinner would soon be ready, she was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. Kasumi started to go answer it, but before she could even take a step in that direction, Akane had leapt to her feet and rushed past.

With a Oh My, Kasumi followed her sister's direction, and soon heard her sister's shout.

"Ranma, where are you?"

Kasumi started to reprimand her sister for shouting into the phone, but stopped when Akane spoke again.

"Ryoga? Is Ranma with you, goofing off like he always does?"

Having made her way closer, Kasumi sent Akane a warning glare about her temper.

In a bit calmer voice, Akane spoke into the phone. "What do you mean he is kinda with you, Ryoga? Let me talk to him."

As Kasumi watched, Akane's expression went quickly from angry to one of worry, and she suddenly dropped the phone receiver.

"Akane, what's wrong?" When she didn't get a reply from her sister, Kasumi stepped up to the phone, and picked up the receiver. Placing it up against her ear, Kasumi said hello Ryoga.

Glancing over at Akane a few moments later, Kasumi spoke again. "Did something happen to Ranma?"

Nodding her head, Kasumi spoke once more. "We will be there as soon as we can, Ryoga."

Hanging up the phone, Kasumi reached out her hand to Akane, and gently took a hold of her arm. This caused Akane to snap out of the shocked daze, she was in. "Kasumi, I have to hurry to the hospital." Akane started to run past her sister, but Kasumi had a firm hold upon her arm. "Kasumi, please let go."

"Akane, I promise we will all go to the hospital. But first, you need to change into something a bit warmer." Akane, looked down at what she was wearing, and nodded. "While you go get changed Akane, I will let the others know what is going on."

Akane gave another nod, and once Kasumi released her, turned back towards the dinning room and hurried away so she could dress properly.

As Akane hurried away, Kasumi made her way back into the dinning room. Finding that Genma had made his way to the table, she stepped closer to the table, and cleared her throat to get the two mens attention.

"Is something wrong, Kasumi?" asked Soun, seeing a rare look of worry upon his eldest daughters face.

"Ranma is in the hospital." said Kasumi.  
-

Around a hour after he had called them, Ryoga looked up from the place he was sitting, to see the Tendo's and Genma making their way into the hospital. As Ryoga stood up, he saw Akane enter the hospital behind her father. Catching sight of him, she quickly made her way towards him.

Soon as Akane reached him, she began to bombard him with questions, about what had happened to Ranma. Turning so he was facing the chair he had been sitting in, Ryoga placed his hands upon Akane's waist, and gently pushed her down into the chair.

As the rest of her family and Genma arrived and took the empty seats around the place where Akane was sitting, Akane looked up into Ryoga's eyes. "Ryoga, please tell me what happened to Ranma."

Ryoga nodded, and after glancing around at the others, began to tell them. "I had just arrived in Nerima planning to come to your home Akane, hoping that I could spend Christmas with your family. As it turns out though, I was naturally lost and wasn't sure on which direction I needed to go. Seems luck was in my favor since I did manage to find my way to the high school, about a hour after arriving in the city. I was so happy at this stroke of luck, and that I was going to be able to see Akane, that I started to run in the direction I knew your house was in. Next thing I know, I trip over something that was buried in the snow, and ended up face down in the snow. Angry that something had caused me to delay in seeing Akane, I got to my feet, with the intention of destroying whatever it was that had tripped me."

Ryoga paused for a few moments, to catch his breath. "Turns out it was Ranma, that had caused me to trip. Normally when it comes to Ranma, I just attack him without much thought. However, something held me back, and instead of just hitting him as I normally would, I shouted at him to get up, and fight me like a man. When he didn't move, I knelt down and began to clear some of the snow off of him, so I could grab him and pull him to his feet. However, all of that changed when I had cleared away enough snow, and saw what I did."

"What did you see, Ryoga?" asked Akane.

Ryoga took another deep breath. "First of all, Ranma was in his female form. Now normally that wouldn't stop me from attacking him. No what stopped me, was the fact that his clothes were shredded. He had cuts and bruises, over most of his body. However, what had me the most concerned, was what I saw under his head. The snow there was stained red, with blood. I don't know how long he was lying there, but I quickly took off my pack, and once I found it I wrapped him up in the blanket that I carry with me. I don't know how I made it here, but I somehow found my way to the hospital."

"Is Ranma going to be ok?"

"I don't know, Akane. He was unconscious when I brought him here, and so far no one has come to tell me anything, about him."

Once he was finished speaking, Ryoga moved over to the chair beside Akane and sat down to wait. Suddenly remembering something, he told them all that since Ranma was a girl when he brought him in and that he didn't have a chance to tell them anything, the nurses all think that Ranma is a girl. "It might be best, to go with that for now instead of explaining the whole Jusenkyo and curses stuff to them." Everyone nodded to this suggestion, and went back to waiting for someone to bring them word on Ranma's condition.  
-

After what seemed like a hour of tense waiting, a doctor made her way into the waiting room. Gathering her composure at the sight of so many people, she made her way closer to the Tendo's and Genma. On reaching them, she asked. "Are you all here concerning Miss Saotome?"

Soun gets to his feet. "I'm Soun Tendo, and this is my family. The Gentleman dressed in the white gi, is Ranma's father Genma Saotome."

Turning to face Genma, the doctor started to speak. "Mister Saotome, since you are my patients father, I must ask if you wish to discuss what happened to her in private, or will it be alright to say everything here with the others present?"

"Here is fine." said Genma, without any hesitation.

"Very well. First off, my name is Kimiko Ishikawa, and I am in charge of Miss Saotome's care."

"How is my daughter, Doctor?" asked Genma, with a slight hesitation at the word daughter.

"Not very good I'm afraid.", raises a clipboard, and begins to read. "Her body was covered in multiple cuts. There was bruising on a scale that looks like she had been kicked over and over, or hit with some kind of blunt object. There was some internal bleeding, but it wasn't to serious. The main injury, that has me the most concerned is the head wound, and the fact that she has yet to regain consciousness. Also..." Everyone noticed the pause, in the doctors description.

"Doctor Ishikawa, what's wrong?" asked Soun.

Instead of answering right away, Doctor Ishikawa turned her attention back to Genma. "Mr Saotome, it might be best if you and I talked about this part in private."

"Doctor Ishikawa, I can understand your concern. However, these people are my friends and they deserve to know what has happened."

Doctor Ishikawa closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. After a few moments, she reopened her eyes and looked directly into Genma's. "Mister Saotome, your daughter was also raped."

There was a gasp off to the doctors left, and Soun looking over at Akane found her with a look of deep worry etched onto her face. As Soun went to console Akane, Genma got to his feet and came to stand before the doctor. "Doctor Ishikawa, will my daughter survive?"

"I'm sorry but until she wakes up, I can't really say."

Giving the doctor a nod, Genma headed towards the front doors. "If you will excuse me, I need some fresh air."

As Genma left the waiting room, Soun having returned to his feet, asked. "Doctor Ishikawa, are we allowed to see Ranma?"

"I think it would be best to let her rest. However, if two of you wish to stay, I will allow it. Maybe hearing from someone close to her, will help to bring her out of her unconscious state."

Soun started to speak, but before he could do so, Akane interrupted him. "I'll stay here with Ranma."

"Akane, are you sure?" asked Soun. Akane nodded. "Very well Akane, I will allow you to stay here. However, I want you to take care of yourself first, and not focus all of your attention on Ranma. Do you understand?"

Akane recognized the hint of warning, and nodded her head. "Don't worry dad, I will take care of myself." Soun embraced her in a hug, and held it for a few moments. Once he had released her, Akane turned to the doctor. "Doctor Ishikawa, could you tell me Ranma's room number?"

"I can show you where it is, Miss Tendo." At Akane's thank you, doctor Ishikawa turned away from them, and began to make her way down the hallway. Akane soon followed.

"Mr Tendo?"

"What is it, Ryoga?"

"If it is okay with you sir, I will stay with Akane."

Soun gave him a nod. "Very well Ryoga, the rest of us will return home."

Ryoga nodded, and took off after Akane and the Doctor, as the others made their way towards the entrance so they could leave the hospital.  
-

Managing to catch up to Akane outside of Ranma's room, Ryoga asked her if she was alright.

"No, I'm not okay. Ranma is hurt, and I can't do anything to help."

"That's not true, Akane. You are going to be there for her, and that is going to matter most of all."

"Thanks Ryoga." said Akane, embracing him in a hug, "You really are a good friend, to me and Ranma."

Letting Ryoga go, Akane turns to face the door to Ranma's room. As she reaches out her arm to push the door open, Doctor Ishikawa stops her by asking. "Miss Tendo, are you sure you're ready for this?"

Akane takes a deep breath, then nods her head. "Very well, Miss Tendo." Doctor Ishikawa steps aside and allows Akane to push open the door. Soon as she steps into the room, her eyes land upon Ranma's still form, and she lets out a chocked gasp. Getting over her initial shock, Akane moves deeper into the room, and is soon standing next to Ranma's bed. Once there, she looked Ranma over and put all of his injuries to memory.

Ranma's head was wrapped in bandages, his left arm was in a cast and sling. A oxygen mask covered his mouth and noise. Letting out a shiver at all of the injuries, Akane raised her right arm and placing her hand up next to Ranma's cheek, began to gently caress his cheek.

Ryoga having remained near the door, saw all of this and felt a pang of jealousy at Akane's show of affection towards his rival Ranma. Giving a quick shake of his head, Ryoga managed to bury that feeling of jealousy since now was not the time or place for him to be feeling this way. Plus, he knew of another reason that he didn't need to be feeling jealous, and it was placed carefully inside his pack.

Before making his way into the room, Ryoga was told by Doctor Ishikawa if they needed anything, to contact one of the nurses. At that, Doctor Ishikawa left and Ryoga made his way into the room, letting the door close behind him. Spotting two chairs over near a window, he made his way over towards them. On reaching them, he picked one up and took it over to the right side of Ranma's bed. Setting it down there, he said. "You can sit here, Akane."

Snapping out of her thoughts, she looked over at Ryoga and told him a quick thank you. Removing her hand from Ranma's cheek, she made her way around the bed, and on reaching the chair Ryoga had placed there, sat down. She then reached out her hand, and gently took a hold of Ranma's right hand.(Ranma, please be okay.)

**End of Chapter One**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Having fallen asleep in the other chair in the room, Ryoga was awoke by sunlight shining into his face from the nearby window. Letting out a slight groan, he opened his eyes and stood up. Once on his feet, he began to stretch in order to remove the kinks in his body, from having slept in the chair. During his stretching, he glanced towards Ranma's bed and found Akane in the same position she had been in yesterday, when he had sat down in the other chair. Finishing with his stretching, Ryoga started to ask Akane if she had gotten any sleep. However, before he could do so, the door to Ranma's room was opened by a nurse, who was carrying a tray loaded with various items.

Once the door had closed behind her, the nurse looked towards Ranma's bed, and caught sight of Akane, and Ryoga. " Oh, I'm so sorry. If I had been told there was others here, I would have knocked."

Ryoga told her it was ok, and asked why she was there.

"I need to change Miss Saotome's bandages and give her a bath." At the word bath, Ryoga and Akane looked towards each other. Not noticing the look of worry that crossed the two teens faces, the nurse finished speaking. "It should only take me a hour to do everything. If the two of you like, the cafeteria is now open and is serving breakfast."

As the nurse moved closer to Ranma's bed, and set the items she held down upon the small table used for meals, Ryoga had moved to stand next to Akane. Leaning down, he whispered into her ear.(Should we tell her, that Ranma is a boy?)

Still holding Ranma's hand in her own, Akane faced the nurse. "What kind of bath are you going to be giving her?"

"Just a warm sponge bath." said the nurse. "Is there a reason why you ask?"

"Well, she asked me to keep this a secret, but based on the circumstances I don't think she will mind, if I break my promise." said Akane. "It's just that, Ranma has a bad reaction to warm and hot water. It causes her to break out in some kind of rash like thing."

Ryoga listened to this, not believing that Akane was telling an out right lie. The nurse pondered this for several minutes before nodding. "Very well, I will make a note in her chart, saying that she is to have cold baths only." As Akane nodded and let out a held breath, the nurse positioned the table so it was next to the bed. "I am ready to begin.", looks towards Akane. "Miss, you may stay if you wish, but I will have to ask him to leave.", points to Ryoga.

Ryoga gave the nurse a nod of acknowledgment, and reaching out his arm gently takes a hold of Akane's left arm. "Come on Akane, let's go have some breakfast and let the nurse do her job."

Giving him a nod, Akane allowed Ryoga pull her to her feet. Once Akane was standing, Ryoga began to lead her towards the door, while Akane held on to Ranma's hand for as long as she could. A few moments later, Ranma's hand slid free of Akane's and feel back onto the bed, with a soft thump. Continuing to lead her towards the door, Ryoga heard a soft sob from Akane. Reaching the door, Ryoga let out a held sigh, and pulling the door open made his way out into the hallway while continuing to gently pull Akane along behind himself.

Once out in the hallway, Ryoga looked around for a sign that would tell him in which direction the cafeteria was in since he didn't ask the nurse. Finding the needed sign a few steps down the hall, Ryoga started off in the direction the sign pointed in, while continuing to gently pull Akane along behind him. Having pulled Akane along with no resistance, Ryoga came to a stop, and turned to face her. He found her standing there with her shoulders slumped.

"Hey Akane, are you alright?"

Having been addressed by him, Akane's appearance and stance quickly changed and she sent him a smile. "I'm fine, Ryoga." Not fully convinced, Ryoga asked her if she had gotten any sleep last night. "Don't be silly Ryoga, of course I got some sleep. Now come on, let's find that cafeteria, grab something to eat, and hurry back to the room."

Before Ryoga could say anything to this, Akane had made her way passed him and taken off down the hallway.  
-

As Akane and Ryoga made their way towards the hospital's cafeteria, back at the Tendo home, Kasumi was bringing out the last of the breakfast dishes she had prepared, when her father came out of his room and headed towards the entranceway. Quickly placing the last dishes upon the table, Kasumi hurried after her father, calling out to him. "Father?"

Stopping at the doorway, Soun turned to face his eldest daughter. "What is it, Kasumi?"

"I was just wondering Father, but are you heading to the hospital now?" At his nod, Kasumi glanced back towards the table for a moment, then turned her attention back to her father. "I can understand the hurry to check up on Ranma and Akane, Father, but shouldn't you have breakfast first?"

Soun thought about this for a few moments. "I suppose you're right Kasumi." As Kasumi gave him a nod and turned to head back into the dinning room, Soun let out a soft sigh and started to follow her. Some minutes later, Soun and Kasumi was joined by Nabiki who looked to be barely awake. "Good morning, Nabiki." said Kasumi, holding out a cup of coffee. Nabiki took the offered coffee with a small grunt, and went to join her father at the table.

As Kasumi began to serve the others, she asked her father if she could join him on his trip to the hospital. Soun told her that she could come along if she wished, then turned his attention upon Nabiki. "And what are your plans for today, Nabiki?" Lowering her second cup of coffee, Nabiki told him that she planned on visiting a friend or two. "Nabiki, these friends you're planning on visiting, are they on the way towards the hospital?" asked Soun, with a hint of concern.

"No daddy, they live in the opposite direction." said Nabiki, picking up her coffee cup and taking another sip, which caused her to miss the look shared between her father, and Kasumi.

"Then if that is the case, Kasumi and I will accompany you to your friends house, then go to the hospital from there." said Soun.

"And why exactly would you do that, Daddy?" asked Nabiki. "I am more then capable of going a few blocks on my own."

In a move that surprised his two daughters, Soun's voice rose, as he said. "If that is how you feel Nabiki, then you will remain here."

"But Daddy?"

"No buts, Nabiki. If you have already forgotten, Ranma is lying in a hospital bed after having been attacked and raped. If you won't let me and Kasumi accompany you, then you leave me no choice but to ground you from leaving the house, except for school."

"Fine." said Nabiki, in a defiant tone.

The rest of breakfast passed in silence.  
-

Back at the hospital, Akane and Ryoga were making their way back towards Ranma's room. Ryoga kept glancing over at Akane, in worry, since she had barely ate anything at all while they had breakfast. As they reached Ranma's room, the nurse from earlier was coming out of the room. The nurse sent them a smile, and then continued on her way down the hallway.

On entering the room, Akane went straight to the chair next to Ranma's bed, and sat down. Once seated, she once again took Ranma's hand into her own. Ryoga stayed near the door for a few minutes looking over the scene. He then made his way over to the chair next to the window and sat down with a deep sigh.

After a few minutes of silence between the two, Ryoga broke the silence. "Akane, are you sure you're doing okay?" Turning her attention away from Ranma to look over at him, Akane told him once again that she was fine. "Akane, please don't lie to me. You barely ate anything at all when we had breakfast, and from the looks of you, you look like you haven't slept for several hours." Akane turned her attention back to Ranma, and in a soft voice told Ryoga that she was just worried about Ranma. Getting to his feet, Ryoga made his way over to stand next to Akane's chair.

Managing to position himself in front of the chair, Ryoga got down on his knees and looked into Akane's eyes. "Akane-san, I know you are worried about Ranma, and I can also see how much it is hurting you to see him like this." Akane started to say something, but Ryoga held up his hand and she fell silent to let him continue. "While it does hurt me to say this, Akane-san, how do you think Ranma is going to feel, when she wakes up and finds out that you made yourself sick, by worrying about her instead of taking care of yourself first?"

Akane was silent for a long time, as she recalled the last time that she had worried about someone like she was doing with Ranma. She had refused to eat and sleep, and had eventually collapsed. She ended up waking up some time later in the hospital, to find Kasumi sitting beside her bed with tears in her eyes. Akane asked Kasumi why she was crying, but she didn't find out the reason why, until a few hours later when her father had come into the room alone, and had told her that her mother had passed away.

"Akane-san?" asked Ryoga, reaching out his arm and placing his hand upon Akane's shoulder. Snapping out of her thoughts, Akane looked into Ryoga's eyes and saw nothing but worry there.

"I'm ok, Ryoga." said Akane. "I was just remembering, the last time I worried about someone this much, and what had happened because of it." She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "You're right Ryoga. Ranma would be very unhappy with me, if I made myself sick by worrying about her like I am."

"Akane-san, I am not forcing you to do this, but how about if I take over watching over Ranma, while you get some sleep? I promise I will wake you up, if something happens."

Akane looked into his eyes, and nodded her head. "Okay Ryoga, I will do as you suggest."

Standing up, Ryoga told her thank you. He then asked if she needed any help. Akane sent him a smile, and told him no. She then made her way past him, and around the foot of Ranma's bed, heading towards the other bed in the room. On reaching the bed, she sat down upon the edge of it. She then scooted back a bit, and brought her legs up onto the bed, where she layed down on her back. She then turned onto her right side, so she could see Ranma. "Ryoga, please remember your promise that if anything happens to Ranma, you will wake me up right away."

"I'll remember Akane-san." said Ryoga, taking a seat in the chair beside Ranma's bed. Giving Ryoga a slight nod, Akane told him thank you and closed her eyes.

After waiting for several minutes so he was sure that Akane had fallen asleep, Ryoga got to his feet, and moved as close as he could to Ranma's bedside. Letting out a sigh at what he was about to do, he began to speak in a quiet tone. "I don't know if you can hear me or not Ranma, but if you can you better listen up, for I will never repeat what it is I am about to say." Ryoga pauses for a moment, and looks over at Akane. "Ranma, Akane is really worried about you, and it is hurting her to see you like this. Now I am not going to say that things will remain this way between the two of you, since you two are always fighting, but even if it is only for a short time I know that she would be very happy if you would wake up. So for Akane's sake, Ranma, please open your eyes."

Unknown to Ryoga, a person had heard his entire speech. 'Should I let him know that I heard him? I can understand his reasons for doing this, since he is only looking out for my health.' Coming to a decision, Akane opened her eyes. "Ryoga, you really are a good friend."

"A A Akane-san? I thought you was asleep."

Akane sent him a smile, and made her way into a sitting position. "I'm sorry Ryoga, but right now my mind is to full of stuff concerning Ranma, that I am unable to sleep even though I do know that I really need it." Getting to her feet, she made her way around the bed, and came to a stop at Ryoga's side. "So, do you think the things that you said to Ranma worked?"

"I don't know Akane. There doesn't appear to be any change, but maybe it will just take awhile." He saw the look of disappoint on Akane's face, and quickly tried to cheer her up. "Don't worry Akane. Ranma is strong, and if anyone can pull out of this, it would be her."

"You're right Ryoga. All we need to do is believe that Ranma will wake up, and he will." Saying this, Akane made her way to the chair next to Ranma's bed, and sat down in it.

Ryoga started to ask her to once again try and get some sleep, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. So he made his way back over to the chair next to the window, and sat down.  
-

Several minutes after dropping Nabiki off at her friends house, then backtracking towards the hospital, Soun and Kasumi made their way into the hospital's lobby. Hearing some heavy breathing coming from her left side, Kasumi turned towards her father with a slight look of worry upon her face. "Are you alright, father?"

Taking a few deep breaths, Soun told her that he was okay. "I didn't realize how out of shape I was, Kasumi. But walking all the way to Nabiki's friends house, then back across town to the hospital, I am a little winded."

"Maybe once Ranma is back home Father, you should consider joining him in the dojo."

"Maybe I will. But in the mean time, we should check on her and Akane, and make sure everything is going alright."

Kasumi gave him a nod, and headed towards the receptions counter. Once there, she got the attention of the nurse sitting behind the desk, and asked which room Ranma was in.

"What's the last name?" asked the nurse. Kasumi told her Saotome, and the nurse picked up and began to look over a clip board. After a few minutes, she said. "Here it is. A miss Ranma Saotome. She is in room number one seventeen." Kasumi told her thank you, and proceeded off down the hallway, with her father following close behind her.

After walking down the hallway for a few minutes, Kasumi came to a stop before the indicated room number, given to her by the receptionist. Raising her arm, she knocked upon the door and waited. Hearing someone inside the room call out come in, Kasumi pushed upon the doors handle, and opened the door. On entering the room, her eyes immediately went to the figure lying upon the bed.

Hearing her named called, Kasumi turned her attention towards her sister. Soon as her gaze had landed upon Akane, a look of slight worry crossed Kasumi's face. Making her way deeper into the room, she addressed her sister. "Akane, are you doing alright?" Akane sent her a smile, and told her she was fine. Kasumi nodded softly, and turning away from her sister, made her way to stand next to her father. Leaning closer to him, she whispered into his ear about wanting to talk to Akane in private.

Hearing the very slight tone of worry in his daughters voice, Soun nodded and asked Ryoga if would join him out in the hallway. Ryoga sent a look over at Akane, before getting to his feet. Making his way past the bed he headed towards the rooms door, just as Soun turned away from his daughter and headed towards the door.

Once the door had closed behind the two men, Kasumi turned her attention back to Akane. Once again she asked Akane how she was doing.

"Kasumi, I already told you that I'm fine."

Kasumi let out a heavy sigh, and made her way around the bed, soon stopping beside Akane's chair. "Akane, please don't try fooling me. I can clearly see that this is hurting you." Akane let out a soft sigh, and apologized. "There's no need for you to apologize, Akane. Now then, how about if you tell me how you are really feeling."

There was a few minutes before Akane finally spoke, and told her sister that she was worried about Ranma, but she was also afraid to show how much she was worried, incase it some how got back to her father and Mr Saotome. "Kasumi, I so want to let Ranma know I care about him, but if I do, I just know that we will be married before we are ready."

"Akane, as I am sure you can see, we are the only ones here in the room. And I promise you, that anything you say or do concerning Ranma, is your business only."

After glancing around the room, Akane gave her sister a smile and got to her feet. Making her way as close to the bed as possible, Akane took a hold of Ranma's hand, and in a soft voice began to say the things she has wanted to say for quit some time.  
-(1)

As Akane was doing her best to reveal her feelings to a comatose Ranma, Soun and Ryoga were having a conversation of their own.

"Ryoga, I want you to tell me how Akane has been, since I left here yesterday."

"From what I can tell sir, she is pretty worried about Ranma."

"Has she been taking care of herself?"

"Not really sir. She didn't get much sleep when I convinced her to, and when we had breakfast she barely ate anything at all."

Soun let out a sigh at this news. "I was afraid of this. She is so consumed by her worry for Ranma, that she is neglecting her own health. Kasumi may already be aware of it, but I will speak to her about this. Maybe we have been away long enough for Akane and Kasumi to do what they wanted to do. Shall we return to the room?" At Ryoga's nod, the two men headed back towards the room.

A few minutes after finishing their conversation, Soun and Ryoga arrived back outside of Ranma's room. Pushing open the door, the two men were greeted by the sight of Akane embracing an awake Ranma in a hug. Soun started to go into his the schools will be joined dance, but before he could do so, everyone heard.

"Excuse me? But who are you, and why are you hugging me?" come from Ranma.

**End of Chapter Two**

1. I skipped Akane telling Ranma her feelings, since I am not to good at emotional stuff, and I didn't want to make it sound corney.


	3. Chapter 3

(A/N: Not going to say the start of this is going to be good, but maybe it will work.)

**Chapter Three**

As a dead silence fell around the room, Akane being surprised by what she had just heard let Ranma go, and stood up straight. For a brief moment she had a look of surprise/ shock upon her face, but it quickly changed to one of anger.

"What do you mean, who am I?! After I reveal my feelings for you, so you could wake up from your coma, this is what I get!" Before anyone could stop her, Akane suddenly slapped the red head before her. "YOU INSENSITIVE JERK!" With that said, Akane spun on her heel and stalked away from the side of the bed.

Kasumi tried to remind her sister about what Doctor Ishikawa had told them concerning the injuries Ranma had, when she was brought in. Akane however, either didn't hear her sister's words or chose to ignore them since she continued on towards the door, pulled it open and made her way out of the room without a backwards glance.

Soon as Akane had left the room, Kasumi started to head after her, determined to make her listen. However, before she could move a soft sobbing sound caught her attention and she turned her attention back to the red head. Moving closer to the bed, she pulled Ranma into a tight hug. "It's going to be alright, Ranma-chan." As she was held by the unfamiliar yet caring girl, Ranma managed to ask through a few chocked sobs, what she had done wrong? Kasumi gently tightened the hug. "You did nothing wrong, Ranma-chan. Akane is just very insecure about something's, and tends to overreact to a lot of the things that happen to her."

Leaning back from the kind girl, Ranma said. "That didn't give her the right to slap me though."

"You are correct Ranma-chan. It wasn't right of her to do that, and I promise you I will be talking to her about it." 'Which I should have done long before now.'

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course you can, Ranma-chan. You can ask me anything that you wish."

"Sorry if this upsets you, but you seem to know me since you are calling me Ranma-chan. However, I'm afraid I don't know who you are."

Placing her hand upon Ranma's shoulder, Kasumi spoke in a gentle voice. "Ranma-chan, you don't have to worry about upsetting me. As for who I am, my name is Kasumi Tendo." Kasumi paused for a few moments in order to let her name sink in, before telling Ranma the names of Soun and Ryoga.

Ranma spoke in a soft voice, saying the names Tendo and Hibiki a few times, before adding the name Ranma to the front of them. Raising her head, she looked at Kasumi and Ryoga, before speaking. "Since you are all here with me, does it mean I am either friends with you all, or am I a sister to one of you?"

There was a slight flinch from Ryoga at the mention of sister, and before anyone could say anything to Ranma's question, he spoke up saying he was going to go look for Akane. Without another word, Ryoga turned away and quickly headed towards the door. Soon as he reached the door, he pulled it open and left the room.

Ranma let out a heavy sigh, and in a mumbled voice said. "Looks like I've upset someone else now."

Although Ranma had spoken softly she was overheard by Kasumi, who quickly assured her that once again she had done nothing wrong.

"But Ryoga seemed so upset when he left."

"If it will make you feel better Ranma-chan, I will go talk to him."

Ranma nodded her head and Kasumi after given the red head a reassuring smile, made her way around the bed and headed towards the door.  
-**(1)**

Having made her way out into the hallway, Kasumi paused and looked in both directions wondering which way Ryoga had gone. Looking to her right, Kasumi caught sight of Ryoga standing in front of the receptionist's desk. Reaching the end of the long hallway, Kasumi heard Ryoga tell the receptionist "thank you", before he turned away from the desk and headed towards the hospital's front door.

Hearing someone call his name, Ryoga paused just shy of reaching the doors. Turning around to see who had called out to him, he found Kasumi making her way towards him, with a small look of worry upon her face.

"Kasumi-san, did something happen to Ranma?" Coming to a stop in front of him, Kasumi told him that Ranma was fine, which caused him to let out a sigh of relief. "Then may I ask why you came after me, Kasumi-san?"

"I wanted to make sure you was okay, Ryoga-kun, since you seemed a bit upset when Ranma-chan if she was one of our sisters."

"What do you mean, Kasumi-san? I'm fine."

Kasumi sent him a knowing smile, and told him that no matter how hard people try, they can't hide things from her no matter how oblivious she to be. "Now then Ryoga-kun, do you wish to talk about what it is that is troubling you?"

Ryoga looked like he was going to not say anything for a few minutes, but he eventually looked into Kasumi's yes and said. "I didn't think it would bother as much as it did, considering how long it has been since it happened. But hearing the word sister and the circumstances as they are with Ranma being in pretty much the same situation, I guess it caused me to remember it all." Ryoga paused there to catch his breath. "Before I go any further Kasumi-san, I want you to promise me that no one other then yourself will ever hear about this."

Kasumi nodded her head and told him that anything that he said to her, would be kept secret unless he told her that it was okay to tell someone else about it. She also informed him about what Ranma had thought, when he suddenly left.

Ryoga let out a sigh at hearing about Ranma's reaction to his actions. "Kasumi-san, I can assure you that I'm not upset with Ranma because of what she said." He took a deep breath before speaking once more. "The reason that it bothered me so much when Ranma asked if she was one of our sisters, comes from the fact that I used to have a sister who looked almost the same as Ranma does now."

Having an idea as to where Ryoga was going with his story, Kasumi placed her hand gently upon his arm. " Ryoga-kun, if this is to painful for you to talk about, I'll understand if you don't wish to talk about it."

"Thank you for the concern Kasumi-san, but I need to do this. Being here now reliving almost the same situation as then, I need to talk about it with someone." Kasumi gently squeezed his arm, and told him that she was there for told her thank you, then continued his tail. "I can't remember for certain, but I think I was seven or eight when it happened. Anyway it was a few days before Christmas and my sister had planned to go to one of the local shelters, to help with the Christmas decorating and some other things that needed to be done. She asked me to go with her, saying it would be fun for the two of us to hang out together and help people. However, I turned her down since our father had planned to go get our Christmas tree that same day, and had asked me to accompany him. I did promise my sister that I would join her once I returned from getting the tree. She did seem a little sad that I wasn't going with her, but she told me that she understood and would see me later."

Ryoga had to pause for several minutes. Kasumi moving closer, pulled him into a hug. Not being use to being comforted, Ryoga flinched slightly. Kasumi feeling this, whispered into his ear. " It's alright Ryoga-kun, you don't have to be afraid of being comforted by me." Calming down due to the reassurance in Kasumi's voice, Ryoga wrapped his arms around her, and told her thank you. "You're very welcome, Ryoga-kun."

Some minutes later Ryoga told Kasumi that he was okay now, and she let him go. Once again telling her thank you, he continued his story. " My sister and I parted with a promise from me, that I would meet up with her as soon as I could." Ryoga had to stop once more to compose himself. " I didn't see her again until several hours later when the hospital called informing us that she had been brought in. She had been found unconscious in an alleyway, a few blocks away from the shelter she was supposed to have been volunteering at. When we arrived at the hospital that told us that she had been beaten and raped. They also told us, that she had slipped into a coma. My sister never woke up from her coma, Kasumi-san."  
-**(2)**

As Kasumi once again comforted Ryoga, back in Ranma's room there was mostly silence. Figuring that Kasumi wasn't going to return anytime soon, and since she still wanted an answer to her question, Ranma turned to the only person left in the room with her. "Umm Mr Tendo?"

Looking up from where he was now seated, he acknowledged the young red head. "Yes Ranma?"

"I'm sorry to bother you sir, but I was wondering if you could answer the question I asked to Kasumi and Ryoga?" Soun let out a heavy sigh, and told her that she wasn't related to either of them. For a few moments there was a look of sadness/disappointment upon the red head's face, as she took in this news. "Can you at least tell me what my last name is, sir?"

"You're full name is Ranma Saotome."

For a few moments Ranma repeated the name Saotome over and over, just as she had done with the names Tendo and Hibiki. Kasumi who was making her way back towards Ranma's room had just arrived at the door, when a female voice shouted. "That's not true!" Hurrying into the room, Kasumi found Ranma close to tears as she shouted at Soun, saying that he was lying and there was no way she could be a Saotome.

Hurrying to the side of the bed, Kasumi managed to wrap her arms around the raging red head, and began to try and calm her down by saying soothing and reassuring words over and over.

Several minutes later Kasumi shifted a bit and laid the red head down on her bed. After pulling the blanket up over the young girl, she turned to face her father. "What happened Father, that caused Ranma-chan to become upset like that?"

Soun looked over at the sleeping red head, sighed, then began to explain to Kasumi what had happened between him and Ranma while she was gone. Kasumi listened quietly as her Father told her all that happened while she was out of the room. Once Soun had finished speaking, Kasumi turned so she was facing Ranma. Reaching out her arm, she gently brushed a few strands of loose hair out of Ranma's eyes. "Uncle Saotome sure picked a good time to up and disappear."

"I'm sure Saotome has a good reason for leaving."

In a rare showing of anger, Kasumi whirled around to face her father. "What kind of good reason would a parent have for abandoning their child, when that child needs them the most?" A soft moan from Ranma caused Kasumi to realize she had shouted. Turning back to face Ranma, Kasumi placed the back of her hand up against Ranma's cheek and began to gently caress it. "Everything's alright Ranma-chan."

Not blaming his oldest daughter for her sudden outburst, Soun gently called her name to get her attention. "Kasumi?" Kasumi didn't turn to look at him, but she did acknowledge him letting him know that she was listening. "To answer your question Kasumi, it is due to grief why Saotome left as he did. While he doesn't show it, Saotome really does care for Ranma, and it hurt him greatly to find out that Ranma was hurt this badly."

"I'm sorry to doubt you Father, but I can't bring myself to believe that Uncle Saotome cares for anything other then himself and martial arts." Soun let out a heavy sigh at her words, knowing that he couldn't convince her without Genma. Deciding to change the subject into a less depressing subject, he had Kasumi what had become of Ryoga. "Ryoga-kun has left in search of Akane. The receptionist at the front desk told him that Akane had left the hospital."

Any hope Soun had of leaving the depressing subjects behind turned immediately to worry, upon hearing that his baby girl was wondering around Nerima with a dangerous rapist also roaming the city. However, instead of the usual Tendo waterworks, Soun got to his feet and headed towards the door. He had just reached the door when Kasumi called out to him, asking him where he was going. Turning back to face her, he told her that he was going to go look for Akane as well. "Kasumi, I want you to stay here with Ranma and wait for me to return." Kasumi nodded and told him that she would do as he asked.

Soun told her he would return as quickly as possible, then turning back to the door he pulled it open, and made his way out of the room.  
-**(3)**

Akane meanwhile unaware that her Father and Ryoga were now looking for her, came to a stop in front of the high school. Letting out a deep sigh she looked around the area, before facing in the direction of the hospital. 'I know it was wrong of me to do what I did to Ranma. Kasumi is probably the most disappointed in me, and I can't blame her for feeling that way at all.' Letting out another sigh she thought. 'Guess I should go back to the hospital, and see how much damage my actions have caused.'

Before she could put her thoughts into action, a voice close by caught her attention. "Excuse me Miss, but could you please help me? I am trying to find the Tendo Dojo."

Turning in the direction the voice had come from, Akane found a casually dressed young man making his way towards her. Remembering what had happened to Ranma, she quickly took a defensive pose and in a commanding voice said. "That's close enough!"

The young man immediately stopped walking, and faced the young woman before him. "I don't blame you for being cautious of me Miss, especially since we don't know each other. But I promise you all I am after is directions the Tendo Dojo, then I will be on my way." Not dropping her stance, Akane asked him why he was looking for the dojo. "I am a traveling martial artist, and have been going from city to city in order to study the various forms of martial arts. I recently found a brochure that mentioned the Tendo Dojo, and decided to make it my next stop since they seemed to have a very unique style of martial arts."

"I'm sorry to say it, but the Tendo Dojo stopped taking new students about seven years ago. You've come all this way for nothing."

There was a brief look of disappointment upon the young man's face as he took in Akane's words, but it disappeared a moments later. "Hold on. You said the Tendo Dojo stopped taking students about seven years ago, correct?" At Akane's nod, the young man continued. "I do apologize for questioning your words Miss, it's just that the brochure that I mentioned is only close to two years old."

Being surprised by the young mans words, it was several minutes later before Akane spoke, asking if she could see the brochure. The young man told her sure, and began to take off the pack that he was wearing. Once he had the pack off, he placed it down upon the ground, opened it, and began to dig through it. Several minutes later he stood up, and held out a piece of folded paper towards Akane.

Akane had to lower her stance in order to take the offered paper, but she was still very weary of the young man and watched him closely for any sudden movements. The only move the young man made however was to hold out the paper he held in his hand. Taking a cautious step forward, Akane gripped the top of the paper and pulled it out of the young man's hand. Soon as the paper was out of his hand, the man stepped back several steps.

Akane being a bit reassured by this, opened the paper she held and began to read to herself. On reaching the bottom of the page, she let out a small gasp of surprise as she read the date of publication as just a few days shy of when Ranma first arrived at her home. Raising her eyes away from the paper, she looked once more in the direction of the hospital. 'Ranma, do you know anything about this?'

**End of Chapter Three**

**Bold Numbers**

**1. **I decided to go ahead and add the part concerning Ryoga's sister. I did change it up some, as well as the person he told it to. Sorry about all of the talking in this part.

**2. **Not sure if Ranma would really act this way or not, but it does need to be taken into account that she does have amnssia, as well as the fact that no one from her own family is there with her.

**3.** I probably should have added this part with Akane much sooner in the story. However maybe having it here at the end will work out okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Akane was currently at a loss on what to do about the young man, she had just met. She couldn't just tell him the way to her home, since for all she knew he could very well be the very same person who put Ranma in the hospital. But then again, as she glanced over at him, she deduced that he didn't look all that strong. She quickly shook her head at that idea. 'No I can't base my decision on his appearance alone. After all some of the people Ranma has fought against turned out to be much stronger, then they first appeared to be. Oh what am I to do? I wish Ranma was here.'

As Akane tried to figure out what she should do with the young man, she didn't see said young man take a few steps towards her. Deducing that he was close enough for her to hear him, the young man called out. "Umm Miss, are you okay?" Akane snapping out of her rampant thoughts, quickly turned around to face the young man. Seeing that he had moved closer to her, she fell back into her defensive stance and shouted at him to get back. The man placed his hands up in front of himself in a placating manner, and very slowly backed away. "I'm sorry if I frightened you Miss. It's just that you was staring off in the distance for so long, I was worried that something was wrong."

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just trying to figure out on what I should do with the information you have, concerning my families dojo." As the young mans eyes widened at that revelation, Akane mentally scolded herself for her slip of tongue. 'Way to go stupid, why not just tell him where Ranma is while you're at it.'

As Akane mentally berated herself, the young man was thinking to himself. Akane was suddenly brought out of her thoughts when the man suddenly snapped his fingers. "I knew you looked familiar, but until you said your family dojo I couldn't place your face. You're Akane Tendo aren't you?" As Akane panicked at the fact that the young man knew her, said young man was once again digging around inside his pack. "I know it's in here someone." A few moments later he let out a joyous shout and leapt to his feet. "I knew I had it somewhere."

Wondering what it was, that had made the young man so happy Akane found herself looking down towards his right hand, to see what looked like a old newspaper clipping. "Here, you can read it if you want. It should put you at ease on how I know your name at least." As the young man held the clipping out towards her, Akane saw a picture of a very familiar setting, and it put her slightly at ease. Taking the clipping into her hand, Akane raised it to her face and sure enough, the picture was of the rhythmic gymnastics match Ranma had had against Kodachi Kuno some months ago. Akane saw herself standing in Ranma's corner.

"Was you at the match?"

"Sadly I wasn't able to attend. But based on the pictures that were posted in the magazine I read about it, it sounded like a really interesting mix of styles. Of course I'm not to fond of the rule that states you have to use the gymnastic tools only, so it's probably not something I would be interested in learning."

Looking back down at the newspaper clipping, Akane thought that maybe she was jumping to conclusions about the young man. Taking a deep breath, and really hoping that she wasn't making the wrong decision, she held out her right hand. "You already know it, but my name is Akane Tendo."

Taking the offered hand, the young man gave it a firm yet gentle shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Tendo. My name is Hiroto Mishimoto."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mishimoto-san." Hiroto quickly brushed that greeting away, and told her to call him either Hiroto, or better yet just Hiro since it is what his friends call him. "You consider me a friend, Hiroto-san?"

"Well, it might be pushing it a bit since we just met, but I do hope that we do eventually become friends."

"All we can do is wait and see what happens, Hiro-san."

"You are correct in that Miss Tendo, but I do hope that it doesn't take to long. After all, a beautiful girl like yourself shouldn't keep people waiting for to long." As Akane softly blushed at the beautiful comment, Hiro took that moment to ask. "How long before you can show me your families dojo, Akane-san?"

Akane was snapped out of her thoughts at his question. "Umm Hiro-san, I'm sorry but that may not be possible. You see my father is still in charge of the dojo, and as I told you before he stopped taking in new students about seven years ago."

"Would it be possible for me to meet your Father, and talk to him about what I would like to do?"

"I don't know if it would help you any, but since you was the one to find that brochure advertising the dojo, it probably wouldn't hurt for you to talk to him if at least to confirm the information you told me about."

"You think someone faked the information I read in the brochure?"

"It is a strong possibility."

"I'll help in anyway I can, Akane-san. For if someone is falsely using your family name, they deserve to be punished for it."

Akane sent him a very large smile, and told him that as soon as he was ready, she would take him to see her Father. A few minutes later, Hiro had everything returned to his pack, and had put it back on. "Lead the way, Akane-san."  
-

After several minutes of walking, Akane came to a stop in front of the hospital. Hiro looking up at the large building asked Akane why her father was in the hospital.

"Before I lost my temper and stormed out of the room, my Father and eldest sister had come to visit a friend of ours. If he hasn't left, my Father should still be here."

Making her way up to the hospital's front doors, she waited for them to slide open, and as soon as they had done so she made her way into the hospital lobby, with Hiro following her. Heading towards a hallway on the right side of the room, Akane motioned for Hiro to follow her.

After a few minutes of walking down the long hallway, Akane came to a stop outside of one of the hospital's many rooms. Raising her arm she knocked upon the door, and a few moments later heard someone call out, come in.

On entering the room, Akane stopped just inside the door and began to look around the room. Her eyes first landed upon Ranma, who was lying down on her bed, and appeared to be sleeping. Continuing to look around the room, her eyes then landed upon her sister Kasumi who was at that moment getting to her feet, with if Akane wasn't mistaken what looked like a look of slight rage upon her face. As Kasumi made her way around Ranma's bed towards her, Akane was kinda starting to worry. "Umm hello Kasumi." Looking past her sister and hoping to deter the slight bit of anger she saw, Akane asked if Ranma was okay.

"Ranma-chan is fine Akane, she is just sleeping." Akane let out a sigh of relief at that news. "We need to talk little sister."

Akane lowered her head so she was looking down at the floor. "I know I did wrong Kasumi, and I'm really sorry for doing what I did."

"And what exactly was it that you did do, Akane?"

Akane let out a held breath, and said. "I called Ranma a insensitive jerk, and slapped her."

"It wasn't exactly in that order Akane, but at least you do know what it was that you did. I do expect you to apologize to Ranma-chan, once she wakes up."

"Okay Kasumi. I was planning to do that anyway."

Kasumi sent her sister a smile, and told her that it was good to see that she was finally deciding to grow up. She then caught sight of the young man standing behind her sister. "And who might this young man be, Akane?"

Hiro started to introduce himself, but before he could do so Akane spoke up, telling Kasumi Hiro's name and the circumstances on how they had met.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mishimoto-kun."

Hiro returned the greeting, and just as he had done with Akane he asked to be called Hiro.

"Very well Hiro-kun. Now Akane said you needed to speak to our father. I'm afraid he isn't here right now, and I don't know when he will return."

"Where did dad go, Kasumi?"

"Father left to search for you, Akane." Once again Akane looked down at the floor, and apologized for her actions. "Akane, I don't what Father will do when he returns, but you might want to be prepared for a lecture and most likely being grounded for awhile."

"Has the attack on Ranma shook dad up that much?"

"I don't know Akane, but I do know that Father threatened to ground Nabiki, if she didn't let us walk her to a friends house, before we came here."

Akane looked past her sister towards the sleeping red head, and began to blame her for the trouble she was soon going to be in. "Akane?" Looking back at her sister, Akane shivered at the glare that was directed at her. "I really hope you're not blaming Ranma-chan for any of this, Akane." As Akane wondered how her sister did things like that, Kasumi turned away from her sister, and made her way back towards the chair next to Ranma's bed.  
-**(1)**

A few hours later Kasumi looked around the silent room wondering if there was something that she could do, since she was bored. Her eyes landed upon Akane and she couldn't help but smile at the sleeping young woman. 'I really do need to apologize to her, for pushing Ranma-chan onto her as I did. However, maybe now things are going to start getting better between the two of them.'

Continuing to look around the room, her eyes next landed upon Hiro who seated in the chair next to the window, and appeared to be deeply engrossed in a book he was reading. 'And where do you stand in all of this, Hiro-kun? Akane shared her suspicions about you with me, while you was out of the room, and I do slightly agree with her. However, are you skilled enough to do something like this to Ranma-chan? I guess I'll just have to observe you, and make my own conclusions.'

Suddenly feeling a bit uneasy, Hiro looked up from his book. Hearing a noise off to his left, he turned towards that direction. "Is something the matter, Tendo-san?" Realizing that she had been caught, Kasumi apologized to him for her stareing. Hiro sent her a smile and told her that he didn't mind.

"If you don't mind me asking, Hiro-kun, I was wondering what the title of your book is. You appeared to be really interested in it, and I thought I might like to read it sometime."

"The title is A Little bit of Heaven. I've only just recently started reading it, but so far it seems to be pretty interesting."

"May I ask what it is about?"

"Like I said, I have just started reading it but from what I have read, it is about a young teenage girl who losses her mother due to illness, then after the mothers funeral the young girls father starts to abuse her."

"Oh my. That sounds like a horrible story."

"I suppose that would be true, but only if you based your decision on the stories description. Not saying everyone does this, but I try to look past the stories description, and see things in a better light."

Kasumi started to reply on what Hiro had said, but before she could do so the door to Ranma's room was opened, and a weary looking Soun staggered into the room. Catching sight of her father's appearance, Kasumi quickly got to her feet and rushed to his side. "Father are you alright, what happened to you?"

"I'm alright Kasumi. I'm only exhausted from having walked all over the city in search of Akane."

Kasumi started to tell her father that Akane had returned to the hospital a few hours ago, but before she could do so, Akane awoke from her long nap and sat up on the extra bed. "Thanks for suggesting this Kasumi, I feel so much better now that I have rested for awhile."

Next thing Akane knew, she was being pulled up off of the bed by someone and then wrapped up in a tight embrace. She started to panic since she didn't know who it was that had done this to her, but a few moments later she heard her father's voice close to her ear, as he exclaimed how glad he was to find her safe.  
-

Some minutes later, Soun released his youngest daughter and stepped back a couple of steps. "While I am glad to find you safe and sound, Akane, we do need to discuss your actions. Will you please have a seat?"

Having been forewarned about this by Kasumi, and knowing that she did deserve it, Akane did as her father asked and sat down on the bed. Kasumi who had come to stand next to her father, placed her hand upon his arm. She then leant forwards and whispered into Soun's ear.

A few moments later, Kasumi finally finished whispering and stepped back. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Kasumi." As Kasumi told him he was welcome, and started off around Ranma's bed, Soun turned to face the young man sitting in the chair over by the window. "My daughter has informed me, that you are needing to speak with me, young man."

Hiro got to his feet and bowed slightly. "Yes sir, Mr Tendo. I was wishing to speak to you, about maybe joining your dojo as a student."

"I'm afraid I haven't taught martial arts for almost seven years now."

"I am aware of that sir. Your daughter Akane, informed me of that while we was talking."

At those words, Soun looked back at Akane for a few moments. He then turned his attention back to the young man. "Would it be possible for you to meet with me again in a couple of days, young man? Right now isn't the best time for me to be talking about the dojo."

"I understand sir, and yes I should be able to meet with you again in a couple of days."

"I really do apologize for this, but as I said this just isn't a good time."

Having returned his book to his pack, Hiro got to his feet, slipped the pack onto his back, then made his way over to stand in front of Soun. Once there he held out his hand. "Thank you for seeing me Mr Tendo. And don't worry about dismissing me like this, I understand when it comes to more important things."

Soun took Hiro's offered hand and shook it. Hiro then turned to face Akane. "I really do wish to thank you for your help, Akane-san. I do hope that we see each other again." With that said Hiro made his way towards the door, and upon reaching it he pulled it open, and left.

**End of Chapter Four**

**Bold Number**

**1.** The story that Hiro is reading 'A Little bit of Heaven', is one of my stories.

(A/N: There is probably a lot of out of character stuff here, but it should all work out in the end.)

Story advice/ideas: I know I haven't mentioned Nabiki for a while, but not sure just yet what I want to do with her. So, I wanted to hear from you readers on what you would like to see involving her. I was planning to have her act cold towards Ranma, but i'm not sure if I could pull that off or not.


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N: Don't know if this will be any good, but all I can do is wait and see.)

**Chapter Five**

Once the rooms door had closed behind the young man, Soun let out a heavy sigh and turned back to his youngest daughter, to find her looking down at the floor. Soun then softly called out to her, but Akane continued to look down at the floor. Sighing once more, he made his way closer to the bed and sat down next to his daughter. "Akane, I want you to know that this is very hard for me to say, but I am very disappointed in you." He saw Akane nod her head, then he heard her say, "I know dad."

Soun then glanced over towards Kasumi and Ranma, before speaking once more. "Akane, while you do deserve to be disciplined for your actions, I am unable to do so because you are not to blame for your actions. I am."

Akane raised her head, and turned so she was looking at her father. "What do you mean by that dad, of course I'm the one to blame. I lost my temper like I always do, and ended up hitting Ranma."

"That is true Akane, but it is my fault that your temper is as bad as it is."

"That's not true. You can't blame yourself for this dad, it is all because of those perverted boys at school. They are to blame, not you."

"Akane, how many times did you or your sister tell me about this? Several times. And once during any of those times, did I ever go up to the school and try to put a stop to it? No I did not. It wasn't until Ranma arrived, that something was finally done about."

Akane looked over at the sleeping red head for a few moments, then turned her attention back towards her father. "But dad, you still can't take all of the blame for that. Nab..."

"Akane, I am well aware of what Nabiki has been doing. But once again, it is due to my inactions that Nabiki was forced to do what she has been doing." Akane tried to think of some kind of new argument, that would stop her father from taking all of this blame onto himself. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't come up with anything. "Don't you see Akane, everything that has happened up to this point, happened because I did the one thing no parent should ever do to their children. I abandoned all of you, when you needed me the most."

Kasumi having gotten to her feet, made her way towards her father and youngest sister. Once she had reached their side, she gently pulled her father into a hug. "Even though everything you said is true Father, I want you to know that I don't blame you at all for the things that has happened. While I did have to put a lot of my dreams on hold when mother died, I wouldn't change any of the things that I have done, involving the caring for and raising of my family."

"Thank you Kasumi. And while it may take some time, I am going to start fixing the things I have been neglecting for so long."

Kasumi released her father, and turned to face Akane. "Akane, do you blame Father for the way things have turned out with you?"

"I guess not. While I could have done without a lot of the anger, I know how much dad was hurting when mom died."

As Kasumi pulled Akane into a hug, none of the three Tendo's realized that a young red head was now awake and listening in on their conversation, with tears in her eyes. 'Wish I had a caring family like the one they have.'

Some minutes later and still unaware of Ranma being awake, Soun informed his daughters that he needed to go speak to someone. "But before I do that, I need to know everything there is to know about the young man that was here."

"All I can tell you about him, Dad, is that his name is Hiroto Mishimoto and that he said he was a traveling martial artist."

"And what about him wanting to be a student, at our dojo. Did he say anything as to why he wanted to join?"

"He didn't really say anything on why he wanted to join. But he showed a brochure advertising the dojo, and he decided to make our dojo his next stop."

"It must have a been one of the old brochures, from before I stopped teaching."

"Not exactly dad. Hiro-san showed the brochure to me, and the date of publication for it was a few days before Ranma first arrived at our home."

"While you was looking over this brochure, Akane, did you notice anything odd about it, other then the publication date? Akane told him that she mostly just glanced it, since she was more focused on confirming the date, then anything else. "It's to bad Ranma has amnesia, or I would ask her about it. This is really worriesome."

"What are you going to do Dad?"

"Right now, all I can do is talk to the person I need to speak with, and see if they know anything about either Hiroto or the name Mishimoto." Soun then started to head towards the door, stopping once he had reached it. "I shouldn't be gone no longer then an hour, but I do want the two of you to remain here. Kasumi, do you happen to have a phone number for Nabiki's friend?" When Kasumi gave him a nod, he told her to call and see if Nabiki was still there.

"What do I tell her, if she is Father?"

"Find out if she can spend the night, and if she can't tell her I'll come get her once I return here." Kasumi once again nodded, and Soun made his way out of the room. Not to long after Soun had left, Kasumi made her way out of the so she could call Nabiki.

Akane remained were she was lost in her thoughts, wondering if everything she had just heard really was her fathers fault. Akane was brought out of those thoughts, when a soft voice came from behind her. "You're really lucky Akane."

Turning around, Akane found Ranma sitting up on her bed, with a look of wanting upon her face. "What do you mean Ranma? How am I lucky?"

"You have a family that really cares for you. I would give anything to have that, but the only one who seems to really care about me, is your sister Kasumi."

"You're wrong Ranma, Kasumi's not the only one who cares about you. I do as well."

Ranma snorted at this. "You have an odd way of showing that you care, Akane." Ranma points at her right check. "If you don't remember, Akane, you slapped me."

Akane lowered her head, and looked down at the floor. "No Ranma I haven't forgotten that I slapped you. I'll understand if you don't want to accept it, but I am really sorry that I slapped you. I let my feelings control my actions, and took it out on you."

Ranma looked over the young woman standing before herself, and let out a heavy sigh. "Akane?" When the young woman raised her head, Ranma saw the look of hope in her eyes. Ranma looked away for a brief moment, and mentally swore. 'Damn it, for some strange I know this is going to really hurt her. But lying hurts even more.' Letting out another sigh, Ranma turned back towards the young woman. "Akane, I really want you to understand that I am not trying to be mean to you, on this. I'm really sorry but at this moment I can't fully accept your apology."

There was a look of complete loss upon Akane's face, a she once again lowered her head and looked down at the floor. "I understand Ranma. Maybe it's for the best if I left."

She started to turn away, but stopped when she heard. " I don't want you to leave Akane. After all, how can I come to forgive you, if your not here to show me how sincere you really are."

As Ranma watched, Akane raised her head and looked towards her with another look of hope upon her face. " Does that mean you might forgive me, Ranma?" Ranma sent her a smile, and nodded her head.

Next thing Ranma knew, she was being squeezed by Akane as she cried thank you, over and over. " Ow ow. Akane please let go, that hurts."

Realizing what she was doing, Akane quickly let the red head go. "Ranma, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"

Ranma very carefully placed her right hand up against her left side. She then slowly took a few deep breaths. "Nothing feels broken Akane, but it really hurt when you squeezed me."

"Ranma, I really am sorry."

"It's okay Akane, really. I know you wasn't really trying to hurt me." Akane sent the red head a smile, then moving away started to head off around the bed. A few moments later, Akane sat down in the chair next to the bed.

Several minutes after leaving the hospital, Soun arrived at his destination and made his way inside the dingy lite building. Once inside he looked around the fairly large room for the person that he needed to meet with. Seeing a person waving their arm, Soun made his way towards that direction.

Arriving at the far corner of the room, Soun sat down at the dirty looking booth, and looked across at his friend. "Saotome, you're really lucky that you're my friend I that I promised to keep you updated on Ranma's condition, otherwise I wouldn't be caught dead in such a shady place as this."

"I really am sorry about having you meet me here Tendo, but the person I hired to help me find Ranma's attacker, refused to met me anywhere else but here."

"How is this person's search going, Saotome? After all if someone could do this to Ranma, I shudder to think what they could do to a non martial artist like my daughters, Kasumi and Nabiki. Not to mention a random civilian."

"I know what you mean Tendo, but unfortunately my help hasn't shown up yet." As Soun sighed at this news, Genma took the opportunity to ask how Ranma was doing.

"Ranma has awoken from her coma, but at this point in time she has amnesia."

"How bad is the memory loss, Tendo?"

"I don't know if it's permanent or not, Saotome, but until Kasumi told Ranma our names, she didn't know any of us."

"I see. And how did Akane react to this?"

"The same way she always does when things involve Ranma. Akane lost her temper, called Ranma a insensitive jerk, slapped her, then stormed out of the room."

Genma sighed at this news, and picked up the bottle in front of him. After emptying the bottle, he returned it to the table then looked up into his old friends eyes. "What do you think we should do Tendo? It's pretty obvious now that Akane and Ranma are never going to work out."

"Now Saotome, that might be for not, since before I came here I spoke to Akane and she really regretted doing what she did. Maybe this incident is just what was needed, in order to bring the two of them together."

"Very well Tendo. I'll leave this decision up to you, since I have other things to worry about right now."

Soun nodded to this, and started to get to his feet. Just before he did though, he remembered the other thing he needed to talk to Genma about. "Saotome, do you happen to know a young man by the name of Hitoto Mishimoto?"

Genma was quiet for sometime as he tried to remember if he had ever dealt with someone with the name, Mishimoto. "I don't recall ever meeting anyone with that name, Tendo. Has this Hiroto come by saying I his family a debt if some kind?"

"It's nothing like that, Saotome." Soun then began to tell Genma everything that he had been told by Kasumi and Akane, concerning the young man. Some minutes later, Soun finished speaking."What do think, Saotome?"

"I don't really know what to say, Tendo, but it is very suspicious that this young man shows up only a day after Ranma's attack, in exactly the same spot where Ranma was found." Genma let out a deep breath, contemplating on what should be done." Tendo, I don't have any say on what you do involving your dojo, but if it was me I wouldn't let this young man anywhere near my home, until I knew for certain, that he wasn't the one who hurt Ranma."

"And how are we to do that, Saotome? We can't just accuse him of being a rapist. We need proof."

Genma thought to himself for several minutes, before speaking. "You said that you was going to meet with him again in a couple of days. I'm going to be there, when you meet with him. And if you decide to test his abilities, I want to be the one he faces."

"Very well Saotome. If Hiroto agrees to the test, I'll allow you to face him."  
-

Back at Ranma's room there was several minutes of silence between the two girls, before it was finally broken by Ranma. "Akane, could I ask you about something?" Akane nodded her head, and waited for Ranma to speak. "It's just that ever since I woke up and found myself here, I have been wondering on what caused me to end up here in the hospital, as well as my family not being here with me." Ranma pauses for a few moments, in order to take a deep breath. "Akane, was I in an accident or something, and is my family not here with me because of the fact that they didn't survive?"

**End of chapter Five**


	6. Chapter 6

(A/N: I was asked by a reviewer to put Ryoga into a kinda big brother role for Ranma. I'm not going to say it will be drama free or work all that well, but I figured I would give it a try, and see how it plays out.)

**Chapter Six (1)**

After spending what he deduced to be several hours spent out searching for Akane, Ryoga let out a deep sigh since he had yet to find any sign of the wayward young woman. Glancing up at the darkening sky, he came to a hopeful conclusion that based on how late it now was, that Akane's temper had calmed down enough and she had returned to the hospial.

Standing up from the bench he had sat down on, Ryoga turned to his left and started off in that direction, heading back towards the hospital. He had only taken a couple of steps, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a sign that had written upon it, the name of a place he hadn't been to in quite some time.

For a few minutes, Ryoga was torn by indecisiveness between making sure that Akane had returned to the hospital and was safe, to going inside of the place before him and seeing the person he had longed to see, but due to his directional curse he had never been able to find the place.

Coming to a decision several minutes later, Ryoga turned to his right, and holding above all else that Akane was safe, he made his way back to the nearby gate. Reaching out his arm, he lifted the small latch that held the gate closed, and pushing the gate open he made his way inside.

As Ryoga made his way through the cemetery looking for the grave he needed, back at the hospital Akane had answered Ranma's question about if her parents had died in an apperant accident that had also landed the red head in the hospital, by telling the young girl that she hadn't been hurt in an accident and that her parents were alive.

As she watched the young red head digest the information she had been giving, Akane secretly hoped that she had managed to deter Ranma from asking any other questions, concerning how she had ended up in the hospital. It wasn't the fact that she didn't wish to talk with the red head, for Akane did enjoy talking to Ranma when it was just the two of them. No the real reason that Akane hoped that she had deterred the young red head, was due to the fact that Ranma's questioning about how she had gotten hurt was starting to make the young bluenette feel a bit uneasy, since she didn't know how the red head would react to finding out what had been done to her. Stealing a glance towards the rooms door, Akane really hoped that her sister would hurry up and come back to the room, since she was much better at dealing with this kind of stuff.

Akane's attention was drawn back to Ranma, when her name had been called. Seeing that she had Akane's attention, Ranma once again asked how she had ended up in the hospital. Akane didn't give all of the details, but informed Ranma on how she had been found by Ryoga, buried under the snow close to the high school.

"Why was I buried under the snow Akane?"

Taking a deep breath, Akane told Ranma what Doctor Ishikawa had told them concerning how injured Ranma had been, when she was brought in by Ryoga. "You was hurt pretty badly Ranma. And if Ryoga hadn't have found you when he did, you would have most likely have died."

After having finished her call to Nabiki, as well as having a long talk with one of her old friends, Kasumi was on her way back to Ranma's room. Arriving outside of the room a few minutes later, she reached out her arm and knocked upon the door. Not getting a reply to her knock, Kasumi opened the door a little bit. She started to call out to the two girls inside the room, but a loud sobbing sound caused her to rush into the room, and quickly look around the room.

Looking over towards Ranma's bed, Kasumi found the young red head being held by Akane. As she made her way towards the bed, the heart wrenching sobs that were coming from Ranma had her asking Akane what had happened, even before she had reached the first bed.

Looking towards her sister, Akane explained about Ranma asking her how she had ended up in the hospital." I told her about how Ryoga had found her buried in the snow close to the high school. I probably should have left it with that, but Ranma then asked me why she was buried in the snow, and I told her that someone had hurt her pretty badly, and if Ryoga hadn't found her when he did, she would have probably died." As soon as the word died had left her lips, Akane felt Ranma's grip around her tighten.

Kasumi noticing this as well, moved closer to Ranma's bed and sat down upon it. "Ranma-chan, what's wrong?" Upon hearing Kasumi's voice, Ranma let go of Akane and grabbed a hold of Kasumi. There was a brief look of sadness upon Akane's face at Ranma's actions, but before Kasumi could say anything about it, Akane had gotten to her feet and started to walk away.

"Akane?"

Having reached the foot of the other bed, Akane paused. "I'm alright Kasumi. Please just take care of Ranma, she needs you now instead of me." Kasumi once more said Akane's name. Akane merely looked back over her shoulder, sent Kasumi a smile, then turned back towards the rooms door and headed off towards it. Once she had reached the door, Akane reached out her hand, pulled the door open and made her way out of the room.

Once the door had closed behind her, Akane waited a few minutes to see if Kasumi would come after her. When the door didn't reopen, Akane leaned back against the wall and allowed herself to slide down the wall so she was sitting on the floor. Pulling her legs up against her chest and wrapping her arms around them, she placed her forehead down onto her knees and allowed her own tears to fall.

-(2)

Having finally found the place he needed Ryoga looked sadly down at the grave of his sister. You could tell just by looking at the grave, that it had been a very long time since someone had last visited, due to the fact that the headstone was covered by vines/weeds and the few flowers that were there had long died.

Several minutes later, after doing what he could the clean up the tombstone, Ryoga sat down on the ground. "Umm not to sure on what to say sis, except that I am sorry that I never came to see you before now. But you know how bad our directional curse is, since you had to look after me by yourself all those times mom and dad got lost. I never did once thank you for that, so thank you for caring for me when I needed it the most."

Ryoga paused for several minutes trying to think of something else to say. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he got to his feet. " I wish you was still alive sis, because I could really use your advice right now. But I know that is just wishful thinking on my part." As he was about to turn away from the grave, a strong gust of wind swirled around him and he was forced to raise his arms up to cover and protect his eyes from the dust.

"Ryoga?"

Feeling the wind die down, and hearing his name called, Ryoga lowered his arms and let up an uncustomary gasp of surprise. Reason for this reaction, was due to the young woman standing before him, on top of his sisters grave. "Who are you?"

The woman sent him a smile. "I know it has been several years Ryoga, but surely you haven't forgotten what I looked like."

Taking a few cautious steps towards the woman, Ryoga took a closer look at her face. "Ryoko?"

"In the flesh little bro. Or in a matter of speaking anyway."

As Ryoko laughed at her joke, Ryoga started to point out. "But you're..."

"Dead? Yes Ryoga I am very much dead. By you wished that you could speak to me, so here I am. Now what is it that is causing you to be gloomy?"

"I am not gloomy."

Ryoko smiled at this. "Ryoga, I am the dead one here, but you are giving off a really dark moody aura. If I didn't know any better I would say our roles were some how reversed." Ryoga lowered his head, and told her the reason why he was feeling the way he was. "Ah, I see how that would make anyone moody. Girl trouble tends to do that sometimes."

Raising his head, Ryoga looked over at his sister with a confused look. "What do you mean by girl trouble sis? I never said anything about a girl."

"While it's true you didn't specifically say a girl, you did say that a friend of yours was going through the same thing that had happened to me, and that you didn't know what you could do to help. Since I was beaten up and raped, and since you said this friend went through the same thing I did, I assumed that they were female."

"It's pretty complicated sis. For at this moment Ranma is female, but she is only that way half of the time. She's really a boy."

Ryoko burst out laughing once Ryoga had finished speaking. "That's a good one little bro. Who knew you had a sense of humor?"

"Ryoko, I'm serious about this. Ranma really can change from male to female."

Becoming serious, Ryoko told Ryoga that it would be best if he yold her everything involving Ranma. Ryoga told her it was a pretty long tale. Ryoko told him that if he wanted her advice, she needed to know everything involving the current problem. Letting out a sigh, Ryoga told her okay and began to tell her everything involving how he had meet Ranma, up to the current situation.

Close to two hours later, Ryoga came to a close on telling Ryoko everything she needed/wanted to know concerning Ranma. "Wow Ryoga, you wasn't kidding when you said Ranma's tale was long. I can also now see why you are a bit hesitant to get close to her, considering she is really a boy."

"That is correct sis. There is also the fact that Ranma's male form, already has a fiancée."

"Hmmm, we wouldn't want to break that up. How about this Ryoga? Since at this point in time Ranma has amnesia, and you did say that she had no siblings, how about being a older brother to her?"

"Ranma and I are the same age sis. Even though his female form does look younger."

Ryoko gave a slight wave of her hand."Whatever. What matters the most here, is the fact that most likely she is going to need someone to be there for her..." Ryoko started to say more, but the wind suddenly picked up. Looking off to her right she asked. "Are you sure it's time for me to go?"

"Ryoko? Who are you talking to?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, Ryoko looked back over at Ryoga. "I'm sorry Ryoga, but my time here is up." As Ryoko finished saying this, Ryoga noticed that she seemed to be slowly fading.

"Ryoko?"

"Come on now Ryoga, don't go getting all sad on me." Ryoko steps closer, and reaching out her arm places her hand over Ryoga's heart. "As long as you keep me in here Ryoga, we will always be together. Now go do what is needed to help your friend."

Ryoga nodded, and Ryoko sent him one last smile before she faded away. "Thank you Ryoko, for everything."

**End of Chapter Six**

**Bold Numbers:**

**1. I don't recall if it was ever mentioned where exactly Ryoga lived. So far this part of the story, I am going to say he lived in Nerima.**

** probably went deep into left field on the stupid stuff, but maybe it will work out alright.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Close to an hour after talking with Ranma in a soothing voice, Kasumi was able to calm the young red head down enough, that Ranma was able to tell her the reasons behind her latest emotional outburst. It turns out that Akane telling Ranma that she would have died if Ryoga hadn't found her when he did, had frightened the young girl due to the facts that one someone tried to kill her, two that someone was still free since no one had told her otherwise, and the final reason and biggest cause for Ranma's emotional outburst was the possible conclusion that this person or persons was going to cone back and finish the job, possibly hurting Akane and Kasumi in the process.

Getting to her feet, Kasumi looked down at the new sleeping red head and said a silent prayer for the young girl. When she was finished with her prayer, Kasumi turned away from the sleeping young girl and headed off in search of her youngest sister. As she reached the foot of the other bed, the door to Ranma's room opened and Akane made her way inside, looking very forlorn.

Once the door had closed behind her, Akane looked over at Ranma and found the young girl to be sleeping. As she let out a deep sigh, Kasumi having made her way closer asked if she was alright. "I'm alright, Kasumi."

"Are you sure you're okay Akane? You looked pretty upset when you left."

"I'm a bit tired, but other then that everything's okay." Saying this, Akane made her way past her sister and over to the extra bed.

As Akane reached the other bed and sat don't upon it, Kasumi let out a silent sigh of her own due to the fact that she knew that something was wrong with her youngest sister. But due to her pride, Akane was avoiding the question just as Ranma would do before he had gotten hurt and forgotten what appeared to be his entire life.

Knowing that she couldn't force Akane to tell her what was wrong, Kasumi let the matter go for now and decided to go see if she could find something to eat, since she hadn't had anything since breakfast earlier that morning. Letting Akane know where she was going, and after getting a okay from the young girl, Kasumi made her way to the rooms door and soon left.  
-**(1)**

Early the next morning, Kasumi awoke at her usual time. However before she started on her daily routine she remembered where she was. Looking over at the two sleeping girls, she let out a tired sigh while wondering if their lives would ever be normal. Getting to her feet she stretched slightly, since she had slept in the chair next to Ranma's bed. Deciding to let the two girls sleep, she quietly made her way around Ranma's bed and headed towards the door.

Arriving out in the hallway, she started to turn to her left so she could head towards the cafeteria. However before she could do so, her name was called by a male voice. Turning to her right she looked for the one who had called her, and saw Ryoga making his way towards her. Once he was close enough to her, she called out a good morning to him.

"Good morning Kasumi-san. I'm sorry I'm so late getting back here."

"It's alright Ryoga-kun."

"Kasumi-san, did Akane ever come back? I looked everywhere but never found her." Kasumi told him that Akane had returned a few hours after he had left. Ryoga let out a sigh of relief at this news. "So is everything okay between Ranma and Akane?" Kasumi let out a tired sigh, and told him about Ranma's latest emotional breakdown, as well as her thoughts concerning Akane.

Once Kasumi had finished speaking, Ryoga told her that he couldn't do much to help Akane. "Kasumi-san, I have an idea that might help Ranma, but I would like to get your thoughts on it, before I try it." At Kasumi's nod, Ryoga began to tell her how he had spoke with his sister and how she suggested becoming a brother figure to Ranma, since she has no other siblings and her current family situation is a mess. Once he had finished, he asked her what she thought about the idea.

Kasumi was quiet for sometime as she thought about Ryoga's suggestion. "I will admit Ryoga-kun that it is a good idea and would be good for Ranma-chan. However it does have me a bit concerned as well." Ryoga gave her a questioning look, and she asked. "While this is a rare possibility, what would happen if Ranma-chan was to never regain her lost memories? Would you Ryoga-kun, want to be a forever brother figure to her, considering the history you have with Ranma?" Ryoga started to answer her, but Kasumi asked one more question. "And Ryoga-kun, what if Ranma-chan started to gave feelings for you? What would happen then?"

"I will admit Kasumi-san, I didn't take any of that into consideration when I was talking to my sister." He paused for some minutes, before saying. "What about running it by Ranma, but informing her that there can't be any romantic feelings between us?" Kasumi was silent for a few moments, before telling Ryoga to let her think about it for awhile. Ryoga gave her a nod.

With this matter taken care of, Ryoga reached for the doors handle so he could enter Ranma's room. Before he could touch the handle though, a very soft hand caught his wrist. Looking over at Kasumi, he asked her what was wrong.

"Forgive me if this sounds a bit to forward Ryoga-kun, but I was heading to breakfast and was wondering if you would mind joining me. I would also like to hear more about the talk you had with your sister, that is if you don't mind discussing it with me."

Turning back to face, Ryoga told Kasumi that he didn't mind talking to her about his sister. Kasumi sent him one of her bright smiles. "Then shall we go Ryoga-kun?" She holds her hand out towards him. Ryoga sent her a smile of his own, and took her offered hand into his own.  
-(2)

As Kasumi and Ryoga made their way off down the hallway, neither one of them knew that two people had just entered the hospital. As one of them looked around wondering why they were there, the other person made their way towards the receptionist's desk. Once they were standing before the desk, the person asked. "Could you please tell me which room Ranma Saotome is in?" Looking up at person before her desk, the receptionist asked the person if they we're related to Miss Saotome? "We're not family yet, but she is living with my family."

"What is your name Miss?"

"I'm Nabiki Tendo. If it helps, my sisters Kasumi and Akane are staying with Ranma here at the hospital." This bit of information seemed to put the receptionist at ease, and she gave Nabiki, Ranma's room number. Nabiki thanked her for the information, and turning away from the desk made her way back toward her companion. As she drew close, her companion asked her what they were doing at the hospital. "We are at the hospital Kuno-baby, because your pigtailed goddess is here in the hospital."

A look of shock crossed Kuno's face at this news. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" With a nonchalant wave of her hand, Nabiki told him that he didn't pay for that information. Giving her a hateful glare, he pulled out his wallet and told her to name her price for all the information that she had, concerning how the pigtailed girl had ended up in the hospital.

Nabiki thought to herself for several minutes, before giving him an amount of fifty thousand yen. At first Kuno balked at the amount saying it was to much. Nabiki just shrugged her shoulders, and started to make her way past him. "Suit yourself Kuno-baby."

Nabiki had just reached the hospital's entrance, when Kuno called for her to wait. Letting a successful smile grace her lips, she turned back to face him. "Changed your mind, Kuno-baby?"

"Yes Nabiki Tendo I have changed my mind. Although your price is quite outlandish, it is worth it to know what sort of travesty has befallen my beloved pigtailed goddess." Opening his wallet, he took out the amount Nabiki had told him, and held it out to her.

Taking the offered money Nabiki put it away in one of her pockets, then she began to tell him everything that she knew concerning what had happened to Ranma that caused her to end up in the hospital. Once she was finished, she watched Kuno's reaction with a slight hint of amusement. "Curse that sorceress Saotome, for stealing the innocence of my beloved pigtailed girl. I will smite thee tenfold for this heinous crime." He started to turn away, but stopped suddenly. " Before I go off in search of this cowardly dog, I should check in on my beloved and let her know that her stolen innocence will be dealt with. Nabiki Tendo, which room is my beloved in?"

"She is in room number one seventeen. However, Kuno-baby if you go in there now I highly doubt you would get anywhere near her, since Akane is there as well." Kuno started to go into his idiotic rant about Akane, but Nabiki quickly cut that off. "This deal Kuno-baby was to get you with your pigtailed goddess, not Akane or both of then. I am willing just this once to help you out, by getting Akane out of the room so it is just you and your beloved."

Kuno started to protest, but a cold glare from Nabiki caused him to hold his tongue. "Very well Nabiki Tendo, I will forgo my love for the fair Akane for now. What shall I do while you remove your sister?"

Nabiki inwardly flinched at Kuno's choice of words concerning Akane. Looking over at a far corner of the waiting room, she noticed that it was slightly blocked from view by a support puller. Pointing towards the corner, she told Kuno to go sit over there and find something to read so his face was hidden. Doing as he was told Kuno headed off towards the indicated corner. Once he was there he sat down in one of the chairs, looked at the nearby table, and picked up a book at random.

As Kuno opened the book, Nabiki turned away from watching him and headed off down the hallway that would take her to Ranma's room. Arriving outside of the room a few minutes later, she raised her arm and was about to knock. However before she could do so, the room door was opened and she came face to face with Akane.

Getting over the sudden surprise, Akane called her sister's name and asked her why she was here.

"Can't I come and check up on Ranma, Akane?" Akane gave her a dubious look, and pointed out that she didn't exactly like Ranma. Nabiki let out a small sigh. "Okay Akane, I will admit I did come here with an ulterior motive, but I am also a bit worried about Ranma. So how is she doing?" Akane let out a sigh, and told Nabiki about what happened last night. "And how are you holding up with all of this, Akane?" Akane looked back into the room, and told her that it was hard. "You really do care for Ranma don't you?"

Akane didn't say anything to confirm or deny her feelings, but Nabiki was able to tell what Akane was really feeling. 'Damn I'm gonna hate doing this, but we really do need the money.' Reaching out her arm Nabiki gently placed her hand upon Akane's shoulder. "Akane, I'm not making you leave, but I think it would be best if you got away from all of this stress at least for a little while. Although it is winter time now, how about if we go get some ice cream? My treat."

Nabiki really did expect Akane to decline, and did have a plan b in place for when she did. However, Nabiki was surprised when Akane briefly looked back towards the still sleeping red head, then turned back to face her. "Okay Nabiki, I'll join you for ice cream but only if you are buying."

Schooling her facial features from years of practice, Nabiki told Akane that she wouldn't have offered to take her out, if she wasn't going to pay for it. "Now then, we should probably get going."

Akane gave her sister a nod, and once Nabiki had started off down the hallway she followed. As they reached the waiting room, Nabiki suddenly spoke. "I want you to know Akane, while I do seem really cold at times, I really do care for my family."

"I know you do Nabiki."

Nothing more was said between the two sisters as they reached the front doors of the hospital. Nabiki let Akane leave first, then paused long enough to look over towards the corner Kuno was sitting in. She slightly frowned, but again schooled her features in order to hide it. Seeing Kuno looking at her, she gave him a slight nod of her head, then made her way out of the hospital after Akane.

With the way to his beloved clear, Kuno tossed the book he had been glancing through aside and got to his feet. Once standing he began to make his way towards Ranma's room.  
-**(3)**

Meanwhile in the hospital's cafeteria, Kasumi and Ryoga sat across from one another since they had arrived there before the cafeteria had opened. "Ryoga-kun, is it alright if I ask you about your sister?"

"What would you like to know, Kasumi-san?"

"That depends on how much you are willing to tell me. But I would like to know what kind of person she was, and what all you talked about with her concerning Ranma-chan."

"I'm pretty certain that you would have liked Ryoko, Kasumi-San. As what kind of person she was, she was a bit of a mix between you and Nabiki. She was a really sweet and caring person like you, but she also wouldn't let anyone walk over her, which makes her like Nabiki."

"She sounds like she was a really nice and caring person Ryoga-kun. You must have really looked up to her."

"Yea I did." He paused for some moments, before slapping his palm down upon the table. "Why did I let her go off alone? If I had gone with her, she would still be here."

Reaching across the table, Kasumi placed her hand over his. "You can't blame yourself for what happened, Ryoga-kun."

"I know Kasumi-san. It's just that ever since Ryoko died I've been alone. Our parents would get lost due to our directional curse, and Ryoko was there to take care of me. But when she died, I had no one." Pausing again, he turned and looked towards the door that lead out into the hallway. "Then I ended up meeting Ranma. Sure the two of us fought, but I will admit that I really did enjoy the times he spent with me, walking me to school, and fighting over the old bread." Letting out a deep sigh, he turned his attention back upon Kasumi. "And now although she woke up from her coma, Ranma is going through the exact same thing that Ryoko went through."

Giving Ryoga's hand a gentle squeeze, Kasumi told him that Ranma's situation was different then Ryoko's, and that Ranma was safe here. "Is she really safe Kasumi-san? Her attacker who ever they are is still out there, not to mention they beat Ranma."

"What are you going to do, Ryoga-kun? Surely you're not thinking about going out to look for this person."

Ryoga shook his head. "No Kasumi-san, I'm not going to do anything like that. But this does go back to what we talked about outside of Ranma's room. About me becoming like a brother to her. This way I can stay close to her, and watch over and better protect her."

Kasumi let out a deep, on hearing this. "Very well Ryoga-kun, I will allow you to try your idea with Ranma-chan. However Ryoga-kun, if I see anything that looks like Ranma-chan is falling for you, you have to promise me that you will not let it escalate. I won't allow Ranma-chan to be hurt anymore then she already has been."

"I understand Kasumi-san, and I give you my word that I will do nothing to hurt Ranma further."

Kasumi sent him one of her radiant smiles. She then looked around the room, and noticed that it was now filled with people. "Oh my. It would seem Ryoga-kun, that we was so absorbed by our talk that we didn't hear the room fill up."

As Kasumi got to her feet, Ryoga glanced around the room wondering if any of the people close by had overheard any of the things he had said. Glancing back at Kasumi he noticed that she was waiting for him. Giving her an apology, and getting another smile from her, he got to his feet and joined her as she headed towards the line of people waiting to be served.  
-

Having arrived outside of Ranma's room, Kuno paused only for a moment before slightly pushing open the door. Being the gentleman that he is, he called out "Pigtailed girl?" When he didn't receive a reply he pushed the door open a bit further, and stuck his head inside the room. He called out to his beloved once more, but as before he got no reply.

Making his way fully into the room, he quietly closed the door behind him. He thought about locking it so he and his beloved could have some privacy, but since this was a hospital he for went with that idea. Glancing around the room, his eyes landed upon his beloved laying down upon the bed at the far side of the room.

After making his way over to stand beside Ranma's bed, Kuno looked down at the sleeping young woman. "Pigtailed girl, to see you sleeping so peacefully after what that scroundle Saotome has done to, warms my heart at how strong you are." Ranma turns her head slightly, but continues to sleep. Looking at the angelic face of his beloved, Kuno got a bold but stupid idea in his head. Leaning forward over his beloved, Kuno pressed his lips up against Ranma's.

As Kuno savored the taste and feel of his beloved lips against his, Ranma's eyes snapped open in alarm. Feeling his beloved struggling, Kuno broke the kiss and lent back. He stated to declare his love for her, but before he could do so Ranma screamed.  
-

Having finished with their breakfast, Kasumi and Ryoga were making casual conversation as they made their way back to Ranma's room. Kasumi had just asked Ryoga what he would do if Ranma didn't accept his proposal to be her brother, when they heard the scream. Ryoga was quickly running down the hallway, with Kasumi right behind him.

Bursting into Ranma's room a few moments later, all he saw was a person standing beside Ranma's bed. "Get away from her!"

As Kuno turned away from Ranma to face the one who dared to interrupt his time with his beloved, Kasumi made her way into the room behind Ryoga. As her eyes landed upon Kuno, she realized what had been done. Moving closer to Ryoga she reached out her arm, and placed her hand upon his shoulder. "Ryoga-kun, let me handle this."

Relaxing slightly Ryoga nodded his head. "Very well Kasumi-san."

Turning her attention back upon Kuno, she asked him to join her out in the hallway. Since no one would deny a request from Kasumi, Kuno agreed to join her. Before doing so however, he turned back to Ranma. "Forgive me pigtailed girl but something has come up, and I must leave you for a short time. But I promise you that I will return, then we can continue to show our love for each other."

As Kuno was spouting off his nonsense to Ranma, Ryoga asked Kasumi if she wanted him to come with her. "No Ryoga-kun, you stay here with Ranma-chan. Tatawaki-kun and I need to discuss a few things." Ryoga didn't look fully convinced. "I'll only be right outside of the room, Ryoga-kun. If something happens I'll come back inside." Ryoga gave her a nod.

Having finished his speech Kuno turned away from Ranma, and started to make his way away from her bed. Ryoga never took his eyes off of Kuno. As he reached Ryoga, Kuno gave him a slight smirk, and whispered. "'You are lucky that the fair Kasumi-san is here, naive. Otherwise I would have smite thee for interrupting me."'

Ryoga didn't say a word, and let Kuno go past him. Hearing the door open behind him, he turned and watched as Kuno allowed Kasumi to leave first. Only once the door had closed behind Kuno, did Ryoga slightly relax and turn to face Ranma. Finding her looking towards him, he asked her if she was okay. "I'm okay Ryoga."

"He didn't um touch you or anything did he?"

"Not that I know of. He did kiss me though, and that woke me up." There was a few minutes of silence between the two, before Ranma broke it. "Ryoga, who exactly was that guy?"

"His name is Tatawaki Kuno."

"Is there anything between him and me? He called me his beloved."

"Only thing between him and you Ranma, is inside his delusional mind. He has an obsession with you and Akane, and both of you have told him time and again that you don't like or love him, but he just doesn't want to except that, thinking that both of you are either just shy or under a spell."

"Under a spell? This Kuno guy must be really crazy to believe something like that, since everyone knows that magic isn't real."  
-

Meanwhile outside of Ranma's room, Kasumi was having her talk with Kuno. "Alright Tatawaki-kun, I know that Nabiki told you where Ranma-chan was. What I want to know is, how much did she charge you for that information?"

"It was ten thousand yen, for her to show me where my pigtailed goddess was. She brought me her, and when I asked her what my beloved was doing here, she charged me fifty thousand for that information."

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Kasumi tried to calm down her inner rage. A few minutes later she opened her eyes. "What all did Nabiki tell you, concerning the reasons for Ranma-chan being in the hospital?"

"She told me that my beloved had been beaten, and that her innocence had been stolen from her."

"She didn't tell you about Ranma-chan having amnesia?" Kuno shook his head no. After closing her eyes and taking another deep breath, Kasumi as calmly as she could due to her inner rage, told Kuno that he needed to leave. Kuno started to protest, but Kasumi raised her hand to stop him. "Tatawaki-kun, right now I am being generous to you because of my sister's actions. However, I could very well have you arrested due to the fact that you forced yourself upon Ranma-chan."

"Kasumi-san, I swear to you that I didn't force myself upon the pigtailed girl."

"Then why did she scream?"

Before Kuno could answer, the door to Ranma's room was opened and Ryoga stepped out into the hallway. "Is everything alright Kasumi-san? I heard you shouting."

Regaining her composure, Kasumi told him that everything was fine. "How is Ranma-chan?"

"She seems okay. But she is asking to talk to you, Kasumi-san."

Kasumi gave him a nod, then turned her attention back to Kuno."Please leave Tatawaki." With that said, Kasumi made her way past Ryoga and into Ranma's room.

Kuno stood there for several minutes, before Ryoga informed him that Kasumi had asked him to leave. Kuno turned to face Ryoga. "I will leave naive, but only because the fair Kasumi-San asked me to do so. But know this, I Tatawaki Kuno shall return for my beloved pigtailed girl, and not even you will stop me." With this said, Kuno turned away from Ryoga and started off down the hallway.

Ryoga watched him go until Kuno had turned the far corner. Turning back to Ranma's door, he pushed it open and made his way inside, catching the end of something Kasumi had said. " ... talk to your doctor, Ranma-chan."

**End of Chapter Seven**

**Bold Numbers:**

**1. I can't recall what I had this one for. But I will say, that no this story will not involve a Kasumi and Ryoga relationship.**

**2. I highly doubt Nabiki would be up at the same time as Kasumi, but this story has already had some out of character stuff, so i'll just go with that for this instance.**

**3. Again I can't recall what this number was for, but as in number 1 there will be no relationship between Kasumi and Ryoga.**


End file.
